1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parking apparatus for use on a three-wheeled motorized vehicle of the type having one front wheel and two rear wheels, and having a front vehicle body portion which is swingable, or pivotably movable, relative to a rear vehicle body portion thereof.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a parking apparatus for use on a three-wheeled motorized vehicle of the aforesaid type, the parking apparatus being adapted for operating by a single action both a parking brake mechanism and a mechanism for diabling the front vehicle body portion from swinging.
The terminology "three-wheeled motorized vehicle" and "vehicle" as employed herein is intended to embrace any one of a variety of types of motorized vehicle apparatus including, generally, a front wheel and two rear wheels. More specifically, such terminology is intended to connote such types of motorized vehicle apparatus having a front vehicle body portion which is swingable, or pivotably movable, relative to a rear vehicle body portion.
2. Description of Relevant Art
A three-wheeled motorized vehicle having one front wheel and two rear wheels is already known, and a relatively small-sized vehicle of such type is also known and commercially available.
In some types of three-wheeled motorized vehicles, a vehicle body is separated into front and rear vehicle body portions, and the front vehicle body portion is swingably connected to the rear vehicle body portion including the rear wheels, such that the front portion may be relatively swingably moved during steering operation while the vehicle is running in order to enable a driver of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from falling.
A three-wheeled motorized vehicle of the aforesaid type requires a parking brake, much the same as a four-wheeled motorized vehicle, and differs from a two-wheeled motorized vehicle, which may be parked with the front body portion thereof in an inclined position. Such a three-wheeled motorized vehicle further requires a locking mechanism for preventing swinging of the front vehicle body portion relative to the rear vehicle body portion in order to protect the swinging mechanism from damage when the vehicle is in a parked position.
It is possible in this connection to separately provide the parking brake mechanism and the mechanism for locking the front vehicle body portion against swinging, however, because such mechanisms must be operated separately, the operational complexity is doubled, and it is likely that one of the mechanisms may fail to be operated. Even if both mechanisms are properly actuated, release thereof will again require a two-fold operation, and the complexity involved is very likely to result in failure of one of the mechanisms to be released. A particularly serious and dangerous problem may arise if the vehicle is driven without releasing the locking mechanism, primarily because the front vehicle portion will not swing when it is desired to turn the vehicle.
The present invention is directed toward effectively solving the above-described problems attendant a three-wheeled motorized vehicle provided with a parking brake and a mechanism for locking the front vehicle body portion against undesirable swinging.